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Heron Take-Off
Heron Take-Off
Dr.Confuser


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Motion Blur II (Advanced Editing IV*)
Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR DG IF-ED
Location: Kirkland, Washington USA
Date: Jun 24, 2006
Aperture: F/10
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/100
Galleries: Nature, Animals
Date Uploaded: Jun 22, 2006

 Photographer’s Notes
• We live near a lake and the Great Blue Herons are our favorite birds. When they take off, they extend their neck until they get up to full cruise speed and then retract it for normal flight. Same on landing, they extend their neck as they slow and finally touch down.
• I’ve been trying to catch them at take-off in good light with my long lens. This turns out to be a harder combination to pull off than it might sound. I was given some good advice once about nature photography, “Learn nature’s ways and position yourself to catch nature being natural.” So that’s what I did here. The Heron favors a certain dock near us. So each time I saw him land, I would grab my camera, run down, and wait (and wait) until he took off so I could catch him in flight.
• Catching the bird in flight with the right camera settings was the hard part. I did very very little by way of post processing. I have perhaps 200 attempts. In my view, this is the best (that also conveys the notion of motion blur). Enjoy

Post Processing
• Convert from RAW (Nikon Capture)
• Remove Distraction (Clone Tool)
• Sharpen (Lab Color Method)
• Crop
• Color Correct (Curves)
• Darken Water (Curves)
• Increase Saturation (Hue/Saturation)
• Brighten Bird (Brightness/Contrast)
• Crop further
• Save for Web

Camera Data
• Nikon D200
• 2006/06/24 08:30:38.4
• RAW (12-bit)
• Image Size: Large (3872 x 2592)
• Color
• Lens: VR 70-200mm F/2.8 G
• Focal Length: 180mm
• Exposure Mode: Shutter Priority
• Metering Mode: Spot
• 1/100 sec - F/10
• Exposure Comp.: 0 EV
• Sensitivity: ISO 200
• Optimize Image: Vivid
• White Balance: Auto
• AF Mode: AF-C
• Flash Sync Mode: Not Attached
• Color Mode: Mode III (Adobe RGB)
• Tone Comp.: Normal
• Hue Adjustment: 0°
• Saturation: Enhanced
• Sharpening: Medium high
• Image Comment:
• Long Exposure NR: Off
• High ISO NR: Off

Statistics
Place: 91 out of 177
Avg (all users): 5.3769
Avg (commenters): 5.4000
Avg (participants): 5.0488
Avg (non-participants): 5.6068
Views since voting: 893
Views during voting: 328
Votes: 199
Comments: 6
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
 Comments Made During the Challenge
07/02/2006 07:42:40 PM
Nice texture in the water, but I would like to see the heron's face more in focus.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/02/2006 05:48:39 PM
Good job with the straightforward composition and colors. I like both of those aspects. However, there is too much Neat Image for my taste and bird seems more out of focus than motion-blurred. The color of the water is very nice.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/01/2006 08:07:36 PM
Nicely captured.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/26/2006 07:26:44 PM
I like the shot just has a funny lighting look to it. I think from the wing
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/26/2006 07:13:56 PM
This would work if only some part of the image were in focus...
TC
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/26/2006 01:10:52 AM
Can we see the original...I'm wondering about the blur on the wings here. The color in the bg is outstanding.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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